i need another cup of coffee first

Recipe For Disaster – The Nanner NelBar

I love running. 4 year olds can’t catch you (as quickly) when you get good at distance running. So, it’s my big stress reliever. But, when you run, you need fuel. As a busy mom with a bazillion food allergies, fuel can be a rather daunting undertaking for me.

One of the fuels that I LOVE for running for its taste and convenience is the Larabar. No added sugar, gluten-free, vegan, and delicious! But, I don’t love shelling out close to two bucks per bar. Fortunately, I love puttering around in the kitchen just as much as I love running. So, I decided to try my hand at making them myself. Wouldn’t you know it, they’re pretty stinking easy to make! So easy, in fact, I improved upon the original “Banana Bread” flavor with some tweaks and I present to you The Nanner NelBar! Enjoy!

Nanner NelBar

yields: 3 bars (approx. 230 kcal per bar)

2-3 bananas

1/2 c pitted unsweetened dates

1/4 c slivered almonds

1/3 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Slice the bananas in to thin coins. Some may disappear as you go. It’s like evaporation

Evaporation in action.

After you have your bananas all nicely sliced and placed on a cookie sheet (I recommend parchment or a silicone baking mat to line the sheet. Bananas are sticky little buggers.) throw them in the oven (or food dehydrator if you’re fancy like that) and set the oven as low as you can. The perfect setting for me is somewhere between “warm” and 200*F. If you can be precise, 150*F would be quite excellent. Leave those bananas to dehydrate in the oven for the next 5-8 hours.

The bananas after dehydrating.

Your goal is to have a generous 1/2c of dried bananas at this point. Next, take your bananas, the dates, almonds, and cinnamon and throw them all in your food prosessor.

My itty bitty food processor.

After you have processed it fairly evenly (I like mine like the original bars with little almond chunks so, I don’t beat it to a pulp, as it were.) you can mold it in to bars. (If you want to be precise, each bar is about 1/4 cup of the mixture.)

Mmm. A happy little NelBar.

Wrap your bars in plastic to keep them moist and chewy. Keep them in the fridge or freezer so they stay nice and fresh. (I wouldn’t keep them in the fridge for more than a week, but if you have a strong immune system, feel free to press your luck.)

Look! I put plastic wrap on them!

Congratulations! You just made three snack bars for a fraction of the cost of buying them! Happy snacking and happy running!